


Heaven's Warrior

by Freedoms_Champion



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Developing Relationship, M/M, POV Dean Winchester, POV First Person, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-26
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:35:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27717571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freedoms_Champion/pseuds/Freedoms_Champion
Summary: How does a human show love to a force of nature? Beats me; they never covered that one in grade school.Dean can relate to his new soulmate on a handful of things. The rest of the time, well, that's harder.Companion to Righteous Man.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Kudos: 34





	Heaven's Warrior

**Author's Note:**

> This one takes place a little earlier, toward the end of season 4.
> 
> Enjoy and have a fantastic day!

Every human has a soulmate. They teach that in grade school, to make sure that every kid knows there will always be someone to love them. When I was a kid, it seemed cruel. Why tell kids someone will love them no matter what when so many of them die before the bond shows itself? Nothing changed when I got older. I went through so much crap and never got a soulmate, so why bother believing in them at all?

I didn’t even change my mind when Sammy got his soulmate. He was a good kid, after all. None of the evil we’d seen growing up had stopped him from looking for the good in everything. Sammy deserved a soulmate.

Me? Not so much. I drink and swear and leave innocent girls without a second thought. I kill nightmare monsters and lose more people than I save, most of the time. It makes sense to me that having a soul is an important first step to being a soulmate. Mine was mangled even before I went to Hell.

So finding out I had one came as a bit of a shock. More importantly, my soulmate was an honest-to-God angel from Heaven, wearing some human guy and telling me that God loves me and has a plan for me. Just meeting him was surreal.

Castiel, angel of the Lord, started a windstorm that half-ripped away sheet metal roofing, walked through all the warding sigils an elder hunter knew like they weren’t even there, and kept walking even after Bobby and I filled his chest with buckshot and rock salt. I’ve hunted monsters all my life, but he’s been a soldier for thousands of years. If it came to a serious fight between us, it wouldn’t be much of one. Cas would hand me my ass without blinking.

How does a human show love to a force of nature? Beats me; they never covered that one in grade school.

“Why are you staring at me?” I grumbled. Yet again, Cas was sitting on the edge of my bed, watching me sleep. I glanced at Sam’s bed to make sure I hadn’t woken him and was rewarded with a tangled mop of brown hair and the tip of my brother’s nose, all that could be seen of him. He’d sprawled on his face and pulled the blankets up mostly over his head.

Cas tilted his head. “Your dreams are curious, Dean. Are those the things your soul holds dear?”

I sat up and rubbed my face. I’d been dreaming about something stupid for a change, rather than endless Hell nightmares and awful memories. I couldn’t even remember what it had been.

“Yeah, Cas, you’ve got me figured out. No one can control dreams, okay? Whatever you see in my head is totally made-up! You know what? Stop looking. Then you don’t have to be confused about it.”

The clock said it was four in the morning. I’d gotten five hours of sleep, which was better than usual. Dim light filtered through the crappy curtains, enough to let me see Cas squinting the way he did when I said something he didn’t like. Or didn’t understand. How was I supposed to know? He wore the same suit and trench coat as always, with his dark hair ruffled absently. In the darkness I couldn’t make out the color of his eyes, but I knew it without question. Deep blue and they would glow when the sun hit them at the right angle.

“How else would I learn the melody of your soul?” Cas finally said. The usual growl of his voice was softened by lowering the volume to keep from waking Sam. “The only way to know it is by looking and listening.”

I coughed. “Excuse me? What do you mean, you’re looking at my soul?”

“It is my duty as your soulmate,” Cas replied, all matter of fact. He tilted his head the other way. “To my knowledge, no other angel has been bonded to a human the way I am to you. If I am to make history, I’d like to do it properly.”

“I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know jack about how soulmates are supposed to work, but I’m pretty sure nobody does that.” I winced as Sam stirred and mumbled. My voice must have gotten too loud. Grumbling under my breath, I tossed the blankets aside and got up. I was already in jeans and a t-shirt, so I pulled on my boots and a flannel to keep the chill off.

Cas followed me out of the motel room without comment. Fluorescent light sheeted over his face as we stood in the parking lot, highlighting his sharply angled cheekbones. His default expression was a grim thing, all pinched mouth and intense eyes. I shouldn’t have lipped off to him as much as I did, but I couldn’t help it.  
I’ve always used sarcasm to keep from being afraid.

“The only reason no human attunes himself to the soul of his mate is because he consciously can’t,” Cas said, as if there hadn’t been a long pause in the conversation. “Of course, it must take place, or no soulmate would ever know their partner well enough to be effective. I’ve seen it play out over centuries. Souls know their own, even if the humans bearing them do not. As I have no soul, I must learn yours by effort instead of instinct.”

Was that frustration in his voice? It had never occurred to me to consider what this situation was like for someone who didn’t know anything about soulmates. Cas might have been a fanatic and a mindless drone, but I suddenly felt a pang of sympathy for him. It was bad enough to spend centuries watching horrible events play out, invisible and unable to help. Now, he was stuck doing a job no one had prepared him for.

I could relate, except for the ‘living for centuries’ part.

Cas stared at me again, furrowing his eyebrows.

“What are you even looking at?” I asked, toning back the discomfort. He was taking the soulmate thing seriously, so I guess it would be polite to try and be a little nicer.

“Well, listening is easier than looking,” Cas said absently. “How can you carry so many burdens, Dean? I have seen generations of humans come and go. So few of them could carry your problems without breaking.”

He stepped closer and put a hand on my shoulder. My skin tingled, even though he wasn’t touching it directly. Months ago, his touch had burned a handprint in that same place. A fluttery feeling made me clench the muscles of my stomach. Damn it, now was not the time to get distracted. Cas was an angel and I very much doubted he would understand sexuality any better than pop culture.

It was probably a sin to physically desire an angel. I locked down the fluttery excitement and the little spark of warmth in my chest. The Apocalypse was bearing down on us. I didn’t have time to fall in love and figure out how to have a normal relationship. Especially since neither of us would have a clue how to do it.

Cas frowned slightly, an intense look of concentration crossing his face. I winced a little. Was he reading my conflicted thoughts on my soul? If he could do that, I wasn’t sure what would happen next. Sorrow touched his eyes, but they flicked to a point above my head a second later. All emotion vanished from his face.

“Go back to sleep, Dean,” he said crisply, suddenly professional again. There was a soft flutter of wings and he disappeared. I crossed my arms uncomfortably, chilled by the pre-dawn air. It bothered me that the angels kept Cas on a leash, that they could call and he would drop everything to answer. I couldn’t explain why but I felt like he resented it.

Well, there was nothing I could do about it except keep encouraging him to think for himself. Shaking my head, I went back inside to lie still and pretend to sleep until Sammy got up.


End file.
